With the conclusion of the book, I came to fully
understanding of the symbols and themes in “The Great Gatsby.”
The green light throughout the book symbolized Gatsby’s
hope. He was constantly chasing after Daisy and waiting for her to run back to
him to rekindle the flame. He always had that belief and reassurance in the
back of his head that he and Daisy’s relationship would work out. Since it was
visible from both of their houses, the light was an obvious connection between
the two. He is continuously trying to get closer to the light, or his goal and
“American dream” of being with Daisy forever. When Nick is narrating in the
final pages of the book, he states, “I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first
picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock…… He did not know that it
was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city,
where the dark fields of the republic rolled under the night.” Nick is
explaining that the “light”, or Gatsby’s dream, was long in the past and was
not an achievable goal. Nick also tells, “So we beat on, boats against the
current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” The current represents Gatsby’s
dream of being with Daisy, and Gatsby is the boat. As hard as he tried, the
current continuously pushed him back further and further from his dream. The
current pushed him back into the past, making him remember his past history
with Daisy, but never being able to reach his dream. When Gatsby’s dead body
lied at his empty, dark, desolate home, help represent Gatsby never
accomplishing his dream of being with Daisy.
Another clear symbol was the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. I
didn’t recognize this symbol for awhile, but the ending of the book assisted me
in fully understanding what the eyes are meant to represent. The eyes were
mentioned a few different times in chapters 8 and 9. In chapter 8, Wilson and
Michaelis were discussing the death of Myrtle. The book reads, “Standing behind
him Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T.J.
Eckleburg which had just emerged pale and enormous from the dissolving night.
“God sees everything,” repeated Wilson.”” Wilson had told Myrtle before she was
killed that she cannot hide her affair from him. Wilson believed that these
eyes represented God, which helped me come to the conclusion that the eyes of
Dr. T.J. Eckleburg represent the chaos of our world, the sorrows and
disappointments, and misconception of morals and values. The eyes were
constantly appearing in the book to remind the characters and also the reader
that God is always watching.
One last valuable theme that I came across in the book are
the misconception of morals and values of the social classes, especially in the
time period of the “Roaring Twenties.” Towards the end of the book, we read
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures
and then retreated back into their money or vast carelessness or whatever it
was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had
made. . . . .” Daisy continuously made Gatsby believe that his dream was
achievable. Tom and Daisy cheated on each other, created problems, and changed
everyone’s lives. Yet, they returned to their own lives after the accident.
Daisy never confessed to killing Myrtle and did not even have the decency to do
something after Gatsby’s death. Tom and Daisy represent the poor character of
the upper class. One of the main themes this book teaches is how some people of
the upper class continue to believe that they are higher than others and worth
more due to the fact that they own more money. “The Great Gatsby” does an
excellent job of portraying what our society is really like and how little
respect some of us have for one another.
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